Traditionally, windshield wiper blades have been removable from the connectors on the end of a windshield wiper arm. Many different connectors have been developed for the ends of wiper arms which, at the time they were developed, had mating connections on the backs of the wiper blades which were intended for use with that particular connector. In order to make it possible to connect the connector of one particular type of wiper arm with a blade having a connection for connecting to a different type connector on a wiper arm, adaptors have been provided which convert one type of arm end for connection to a certain type of wiper blade.
One such type connector and/or adaptor has a pair of spaced apart flanges which are intended to straddle the yoke of a wiper blade so that a pin may be passed through the yoke and through the connection on the blade to retain the arm connected to the blade. Heretofore, the particular pin provided was a cylindrically-shaped pin having an annular recessed section in the midportion of the pin. When the pin was inserted through the openings in the flanges on the connector or adaptor and passed through aligned openings in the walls of the yoke of the blade, a spring clip in the yoke on the blade seated in the annular recess to retain the pin and, therefore, the connector and/or adaptor assembled with the blade.
These pins were generally made of metal, although they could be made of plastic and were taped to the connector or to the adaptor, or they were provided in small plastic bags attached to the connector or the adaptor, or they were molded in the current popular blister pack with the connector or adaptor. The pins frequently became separated from the adaptor or punctured the bag or the film of the blister pack and became lost, thereby rendering the blade useless with the particular connector and/or adaptor. In some cases, the manufacturer actually assembled the adaptor to the blade using the pin so as to attempt to prevent the pin from becoming lost. This increased the size of the blade presenting packaging problems and increased the cost of manufacturing the blade due to the additional step of assembling the adaptor and pin to the blade.
In the field, if the adaptor and pin are not needed, they are discarded. When needed, both are important and the connection becomes useless without one or the other.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.